The Doctor, currently in his 10th incarnation, was roaming the halls of the TARDIS, bored out of his mind, when he heard a long string of curses coming from his newest companion's room. He jiggled the door knob-unlocked. He opened it and saw the light in the bathroom was on. Cautiously, he approached the door and knocked.
"Come in," she called out, sounding frustrated. He opened the door to see me glaring at the sink.
"Is something wrong with the sink?" he asked.
"I dropped my contacts and they went down the drain," I told him, "And I don't have any more."
"Then just wear your glasses," the Doctor reasoned, picking up said glasses and twirling them between his thumb and index finger.
"No way!" I exclaimed, pushing a lock of black hair behind my ear. "I swore when I got my contacts that I'd never wear that abomination ever again. Ever." He cleaned them off for me and studied them.
"It's either that or go on adventures blind," he said, and I made a face. He took my glasses-thick-framed and black-and slid them onto my face. The Doctor shoved his hands in his coat pocket and grinned at me. "If it makes you feel any better Stella, you look adorable in those glasses." My face reddened.
"Shut up," I muttered, pushing past him. "Now get out so I can change into regular clothes. Go!" I shooed him out and locked the door behind him. Getting dressed quickly, I rushed to the console room of the TARDIS where the Doctor sat at the console.
"You are too cute Stella Lewis!" he exclaimed, looking at me. "But she's nothing compared to you Sexy." He winked at the console, and I burst out laughing. Traveling with the Doctor was the absolute best.
"I'll be back, I'll be super quick!" I promised him, racing out of the TARDIS. "I just need to go to Martha's birthday party, otherwise she'll be super pissed at me." We waved goodbye to each other.
An hour later, I returned, a little buzzed, to see that the TARDIS was not there.
I hugged Martha, my best friend. "It's so good to see you! I feel like it's been ages!"
"Agreed," Martha replied. "I want you to meet my friend. Stella, this is-"
"The Doctor," I finished lamely, glaring at the man who had left me behind, glaring at the man I had grown to love.
"Stella!" He seemed genuinely surprised to see me. "I didn't know you knew Martha Jones-brilliant one she is. You know Martha, Stella and I used to travel together, then she ditched me."
"Ditched you?" I repeated in disbelief. "You left me."
"You said you'd be quick, and then you never came back."
"I came back an hour later, to see you had gone."
"An hour isn't quick!"
"It was traveling with you!"
We were right up in each other's faces, when the Doctor noticed something. "You're wearing glasses. I'd thought you'd gone back to contacts."
I blushed. "You never did get me more contacts like you promised, so I grew used to wearing my glasses again. I guess I just…forgot about contacts." Actually, I didn't wear contacts because he had told me I looked adorable wearing glasses, but I wasn't about to admit to that.
"Alright then," he said, staring hard at me. "Shall we watch Lazarus change what it means to be human?"
"I shall," I retorted coldly. "I don't care if you do."
"Er, guys?"
It was Martha, the poor girl was watching us with a confused expression on her face.
"I should be going," I sighed. "See you whenever you return from your wild adventures!" I embraced her, and as I soon as my mouth was near her ear, I hissed softly, "Whatever you do Martha Jones, don't fall in love with him." She gave a slight nod and we broke apart.
"Why don't you stay?" The Doctor questioned, looking a bit saddened. "Why can't you stay?"
That's when Lazarus got into the machine and all hell broke loose.
I stood with Martha and the Doctor in her apartment, staring at the TARDIS.
"Hey Ol' Girl," I said softly, stroking her. "I've missed you." She hummed in response.
"You could come with us," Martha told me. "I remember the look on your face at my birthday party all that time ago. When you said you'd been traveling. You were so happy. Ever since then, you've been almost cold."
I scowled. "I don't have a place in the TARDIS a anymore, right Doctor?"
"Actually, the TARDIS still has your room ready for your return," he informed me, a light smirk playing on his lips. "Oh, Stella Lewis, you still look adorable in those glasses!"
I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. His eyes widened in shock. "Thank you, Doctor, but it's time for me to move on-"
"Oh, pretty please!" Martha interrupted, flashing me a blinding grin. "Come on, please!"
I rolled my eyes. "Fine. But only because I know you just can't live without me Martha Jones." She beamed as I pushed past the Doctor and into the TARDIS. Martha followed me, but he stood into the same spot, still wearing the same expression of shock.
"Are you coming Doctor?" I inquired, grinning a wild grin. He broke out of his trance and copied my grin.
"You know it Stella Lewis." He bounded into the TARDIS and started pushing buttons. "Where to, my oh-so-intelligent companions?"
I snorted. "I'd hardly say I'm 'oh-so-intelligent.'"
"But you wear glasses," the Doctor argued. "Isn't it some kind of unspoken law amongst humans that only smart people are allowed to wear glasses? I'd always thought of glasses as marks of intelligence!"
"Or perhaps," I gasped in mock surprise. "They're just marks of bad vision!" The Doctor shook his head at me.
"I've missed you Stella Lewis."
"Let's go forwards," Martha suggested, her eyes sparkling. And so we did, with the Doctor's cry of, "Allons-y!"
The second time I kissed the Doctor was when we finished saving that spaceship from falling into the sun. I had wanted to ever since he rescued me from being trapped in the escape pod with Martha and Riley, but then he got possessed and we had to dump the fuel to please the living sun, there just wasn't time. Once we made it into the TARDIS, I had given him a tight hug and then grabbed his face and pulled it to mine. Martha watched smirking, because as she had told me just minutes after I rejoined the TARDIS crew, she was so over the Doctor and totally shipped us, whatever the hell that meant.
When I pulled away, he had that shocked look on his face. I blushed and turned away to embrace Martha again.
"Don't expect me to forgot about that kiss you gave to Riley," I mumbled in her ear. Then the Doctor gave Martha and I keys to the TARDIS.
That night, I woke up with his words ringing in my ears. "Burn with me. Burn with me, Stella."
I kissed him many times after that when the three of us went undercover to escape the Family: Martha as a housemaid, the Doctor as a human professor (he used the Chameleon's Arch to become human. I remember Martha and I holding each other as he completed the act), and I as Joan Redfern, the matron and the woman John Smith fell in love with, and I of course had to keep up appearances. Martha and I would meet up at our cabin and discuss everything. It was her idea for me to 'fall in love' with the Doctor. The whole thing was rather boring and tedious. Mr. Smith pissed me off a little bit by allowing that bully to beat poor Tim Latimer, though he definitely made up for it saving that baby.
The first kiss was a bit magical. It was the first time the Doctor had kissed me, not the other way around. The second time we met in the middle, and then Martha interrupted, she was in a fit of giggles later on. I tried to immerse myself in the role, getting mock-mad at Martha when she slapped the Doctor (I really was a little mad, she didn't have to slap the man).
And then when he was forced to choose, that's when I gave up the act and chose another one.
"Stop it!" I yelled. "You're not looking for a Time Lord, you sexist pigs. You're looking for a Time Lady, which is what I am. Please, leave poor Martha alone."
The Doctor looked at me, a mixture of hurt and confusion swirling in his eyes. "Joan? What's going on?"
"He is nothing but a simple human," I lied. Martha's eyes were wide, but if she wanted to react, she didn't show it. This was the plan after all. "Let her go. She was my companion, but she is useless to you."
"Liar!" Jenny screeched.
"I'm not lying," I insisted. "Really, I've got the sonic screwdriver and everything." The teenager-Baines-he patted me down as I made a face with disgust streaming from every pore. When he found the sonic screwdriver tucked in my bust (The Doctor later on made me sanitize it, even though I insisted it smelled like flowers and was perfectly fine), he grinned, but the little girl was still not convinced.
"The only Time Lady left," she said. "But that's not right. All the stories say there's only a Time Lord left."
"Again, I say, you sexist pigs," I retorted. She glowered at me.
"Do you have 2 hearts?" Jenny questioned, and she quickly checked using the stethoscope I had left in the Doctor's room. "Oh, you are a liar."
"I hope you all rot in hell," I spat at her.
"Which means we were right," Baines said joyfully. "Smith is the Doctor."
"Oh wouldn't you like to know," I snarled. He turned to me and pushed a curly blond lock behind my ear.
"So beautiful," he purred. He turned to the Doctor. "So, who will it be? The lover or the maid?"
"Oi!" I exclaimed. "We've got names!" The Family ignored me. I mustered up all my courage and started babbling nonsense, just like the Doctor always did to buy us a bit of time and distract the Family. "My name is actually Stella Lewis. Fun fact-did you know Stella means star in Latin? Funny thing is, you're looking for a man who travels amongst the stars, which is to say a man who travels amongst me if you think about it-quite funny, don't you think? And of course you think it's the devilishly handsome professor because don't they always have a secret? I'd allude to the Great J.K for reference, but I won't because you won't get it nor were there any devilishly handsome professors with secrets-well, there was Lockhart, but I don't really count him, and Lupin but devilishly handsome is a bit of a stretch. Hey, did you know-"
"Quiet!" barked the man holding me, and his grip tightened, his gun pressing into my temple.
"Rude," I muttered, before smirking, remembering the story the Doctor had told me about his most recent regeneration. "Rude and not ginger." At this the Doctor half-smiled, and my eyes brightened. Was he finally remembering even without the watch?
"This one is just in charge of incoherent babbling," Baines said. "I'd let her die personally, but we'll give you the choice. What will it be Doctor?"
Martha and I's eyes met-our captors were distracted, it was perfect timing-and we pulled the same move: we became the capturers and they became the captees. I had my gun pointed at the little girl, while Martha's was aimed at Baines. The Family stopped pointing their guns at us.
The crowd behind us left, and I told the Doctor to leave, before Martha and I quickly left after a brief run-in with those terrifying scarecrows. We were running towards the academy, and then the stupid human Doctor used the bell to call for everyone to grab guns. Martha and I spent the little time we had to look for the watch, but then I had to go act nurse-y, so Martha gave me some tips.
I was gathering supplies when the Doctor approached me, saying, "Joan, it's not safe."
"I'm not Joan," I replied hotly. "As I said before, I'm Stella, and I honestly cannot believe you are sending children into battle. The Doctor I know would never do that."
He looked bewildered. "Listen Joan, just please stay safe?"
"I'm not Joan and you, you are not John Smith, you are the Doctor. John Smith isn't real!"
"When I kissed you, was that real?" he asked. I reddened.
"Can we please not talk about that?" I mumbled, not looking at him. "Look, we need to find that watch you lost, otherwise the whole world will suffer, so straighten your priorities and stop trying to get in my pants!" I glanced down at my outfit. "I mean, skirt!" I quickly bustled away, but he pulled me back and kissed me. Butterflies went off in my stomach. I pushed him away and ran as fast as I could, trying to find Martha. She was having a tantrum in his study, trying to find the watch.
"Martha, calm down, we can find the watch!" I said quickly, trying to calm her down. I hugged her and she started crying.
"It's hopeless," she cried out. We realized the little girl who been with the Family was approaching the headmaster and ran out to warn him, but he didn't listen and died because of it. Funny how no one listens to us when it really counts. After that, we were trying to direct the students out of danger.
"Fire! We need fire!" I shouted, thinking up ways to defeat the scarecrows, but we got sidetracked and the fire idea was forgotten. Martha and I tried to convince the Doctor again that he was indeed the Doctor, but he freaked out on us.
And then it turned out Tim Latimer had the fob watch. It was up to me to convince him to become a Time Lord again, and it was not an easy task.
"If I could do this instead of you," I whispered as he gazed at the Fob Watch. "I would."
"Does he love you?" he asked shakily. "Like I do?"
"No," I said quietly. "He loved once, and I think that was enough for him."
"What happened to her?"
"She became trapped in an alternate universe. Rose. Your Rose. Course, I love him. I really do. I've kissed him before even. You need to be him, because he is the only thing standing in the way of the Family. Martha and I can only do so much, we only know so much. He knows everything, and if he doesn't know something, he learns it. He's the most wonderful man ever to exist. He says Allonsy and calls his spaceship Sexy and God, when he looks at me-" I broke off as tears rolled down my cheeks.
"You love him," the Doctor-no, John said. "That's why it was so easy for you pretending to be in love with me. Because I look like him."
"Easy?" I scoffed. "It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. You wanna know why? Because as soon as you become him again, you won't love me anymore, because he doesn't. And it hurts me, but you have to do this." I pressed a kiss to his lips. "I'm sorry, but you have to." We held the fob watch at the same time and the life the two of us could have together flashed before my eyes. I got away as soon as possible, crying in Martha's arms.
The Doctor became the Doctor again. And it hurt so badly. He punished the Family as he saw fit.
"Is it done?" I asked, as he came walking towards us.
"It's done," the Doctor replied. I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't want to talk about us, the fake us that had been smacking lips since about a week ago. "Martha, can you give us a moment?" I winced, but she nodded merrily and walked off at a fast pace.
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I shouldn't have done that to you. Knowing about Rose and all, but it had to be done. And it was almost fun, if I'm being honest-"
"The Family was right," the Doctor interrupted. "You do seem to do a lot of incoherent babbling." I made a face and he laughed. "We could start over, you know. Try again. As us."
"We did make a handsome couple," I said lightly in reply. "But no Doctor. You and I both know it's for the best if we stay friends."
"Friends don't usually snog each other," the Doctor reminded me. I snorted and swatted his arm playfully.
"Yeah, well, don't expect that to happen again," I giggled. "You were an awful kisser."
"And you're an awful liar! Now put your glasses back on. It's time to head off."
I crossed my arms across my chest. "You know I only said those things to get you to change back."
"Of course, Stella Lewis," the Doctor replied, but still, he winked at me.
We went back to the same old relationship we had before, which I think was more disappointing to Martha than anyone else.
I would never admit it to anyone, but I missed John Smith and the feel of his lips against mine.
I remember him recording it, to this very day. I remember him writing it too, the letter and the note and everything. I remember how frantic he was and the panic bubbling in my chest as he explained it all. I remember sitting there with Martha, praying everything worked out for Sally Sparrow, the poor woman, I remember Martha interrupting (she was more pissed than worried like myself). I remember Billy showing up and the Doctor explaining everything and the whole time I couldn't help but worry, because we knew this woman. If only briefly, we had met her and she was beautiful, she had a gentle face that hinted at kindness, and she was obviously brave having dealt with the Weeping Angels. Even though I knew she survived, worry had me in its grip and refused to let go. They were horrible creatures-still are.
To this very day, I remember everything that happened with those damned statues, even though I've wished a thousand times that I could forget.
Meeting Captain Jack Harkness was…interesting. The Doctor's scowl whenever Jack started flirting with someone was pretty adorable. The fact that the Doctor grew another hand was a fact I had already knew, but seeing it? For lack of a better word, ew. I kept a tight hold on his new one whenever possible, just to be safe.
The Master was a lot less pleasant to meet. Professor Yana, he was kind. The Master, not so much.
I had no idea why Martha insisted on wearing heels even though she complained about it hurting her feet.
I was so glad when we managed to make it back to the 21st century.
"I don't get it though," I was saying. "I know that voice. I've must of heard it millions of times. Yet, now, the reason why escapes me."
"You picked a good time to not remember," Martha teased and I elbowed her. "Oh, I'm just joking. I know that voice too."
Suddenly it came to me. The Doctor's eyes darted toward me, as if he knew an idea had struck me.
I looked at the rest of the group. "If you were a power-hungry Time Lord that was enough of a jackass to abandon your own kind in a life or death situation and you ended up in the 21st century, what would you do?" The three of them stared at me blankly. "You know what I would do? Run for Prime Minister."
Martha's eyes went wide and she started nodding rapidly, "That's right! Harold Saxon."
Suddenly, something about the Prime Minister started playing on the news. Harold Saxon was practically strutting down the stairs, a beautiful blond (Lucy Saxon, if I remembered correctly) by his side and surrounded by paparazzi and men in black suits.
The Doctor said, "That's him... he's Prime Minister. The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain." Saxon kissed his wife, and I noticed the Doctor looking a bit shocked. "The Master and his wife?"
Saxon looked at the cameras and said, "This country has been sick, this country needs healing, this country needs medicine - in fact I'd go so far as to say that, what this country really needs, right now, is a Doctor." I glanced at said Doctor, who looked torn between being pissed and sad. I reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. He glanced at me and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose.
Martha noticed us and smirked. Then we headed to her apartment and went on his website for research.
"He's practically perfect," I murmured, flipping through pictures. "How did no one figure out he was a fake?"
"Because he's practically perfect," Martha shrugged.
"Exactly!" I exclaimed, turning to face my best friend. "That's what the media does: take someone perfect, and tear them down. Yet here he is, everyone loves him, no one has even thought for a brief moment that something's wrong with him. It's unnatural."
"Not really," Martha argued. "I mean, well, she's got a point." I grinned. The Doctor frowned in response.
"But who is he though?" I asked, my smile fading. "We know he's a time-lord, know he's power-hungry if he calls himself the Master-no 'The Master' has ever been good."
"Evidence?" sounded Martha.
"Buffy. Duh."
"Good enough for me."
I returned my attention to the Doctor, my heart aching as I started thinking about John Smith. Feeling antsy, I got up and started cleaning Martha's apartment. I liked cleaning when I had too much to think about, and baking too. Anything to clear my mind. Jack went to make us tea.
"But he's got the TARDIS," he was saying. "Maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades." Martha forced me to sit down, so I picked up a book and started flipping through it.
"No," the Doctor dismissed quietly.
"Why not? It worked for me." Jack handed us our tea.
"When he was stealing the TARDIS, the only thing I could do was fuse the coordinates," the Doctor explained. "I locked them permanently. He can only travel between the year 100 trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed, which is right here, right now."
"Yeah, but," Jack protested. "A little leeway?"
"Well, 18 months," the Doctor replied. "Tops. The most he could have been here is 18 months. But how's he managed all this? The Master was always sort of hypnotic, but this is on a massive scale."
"We were gonna vote for him," Martha admitted, gesturing to the two of us. I had stopped flipping through books and set off to the kitchen to make cookies.
"Really?"
"It was before we even met you, and I liked him."
"Me too," confessed Jack.
"Why do you say that?" the Doctor questioned. I hummed absently, searching for ingredients. "What was his policy, what'd he stand for?"
"I don't know, he always sounded good," Martha said. After that, I sorta tuned out of the conversation, immersed in the baking process. I tied an apron on and went to work, measuring and mixing.
The Doctor's exclamation of, "What?" startled me. My dough was halfway done, and I spilled some flour.
"Tomorrow morning," continued Saxon. "They will appear. Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child, every teacher, and every chemist, and lorry driver, and farmer and, I don't know, every medical student." At that the Doctor whipped around and looked at Martha. My hands which were still mixing, dropped the whisk and I rushed over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
The Doctor reached over and turned to TV around to reveal a bomb. "OUT!"
We rushed out, grabbing Martha's laptop and the Doctor's coat, but leaving my near-completed chocolate chip cookie dough behind. We kept running, out of the building when the bomb exploded and fire rushed out of Martha's windows. Glass rained over us as we covered our faces.
"Alright?" the Doctor asked.
"Alright," Jack replied.
"Martha? What are you doing?"
"He knows about me, what about my family?" She was furiously typing on her phone. "Stella, what about your mum?"
I frowned. "Did I not tell you? I didn't, did I?"
"Doesn't matter," the Doctor said. "Martha, don't tell them anything."
"I'll do what I like!" Martha shot back. He faltered and turned to me.
"Are you okay?" he questioned, his voice a bit low.
I pouted. "He exploded my cookie dough." At his expression, I hurriedly explained, "I was making chocolate chip cookies, Martha's favorites. I like to bake when I'm nervous, or upset, or angry, or anything really."
"You're upset because he exploded your cookie dough," he deadpanned.
I stared back at him just as hard. "You and I both know we all could use some comfort food." Martha started freaking out and ran off, so we followed her. We got into a car and drove to Martha's mum's place, then drove off as the guns started firing. We ditched the car. Saxon interrupted Martha's phone call to Leo and the Doctor grabbed Martha's phone to talk to Saxon/the Master. The rest of us stayed behind, but we walked over when the Doctor nodded at us.
"They can see us!" exclaimed the Doctor, pointing at the security camera on our right. Martha was watching the tele, a worried expression on her face. He looked at us. "He's got control of everything."
"What do we do?" Martha asked.
"We've got nowhere to go," Jack said.
"If only Hogwarts was real, right?" I half-joked, stuffing my hands into my pockets.
Martha shot a mini-glare my way. "Doctor, what do we do?"
"We run," he replied. And so we ran. We went to an abandoned warehouse and Martha went to get food. I sat by the Doctor as he went on Martha's laptop, clicking, clicking, clicking…
A sudden wave of drowsiness hit me like a ton of bricks. I guess I spaced out because the next thing I knew, Martha was poking my shoulder with a sandwich in her hand. I granted her a small smile and took it.
"What about your mum though?" she asked.
"She died Martha," I told her flatly, opening up my sandwich. "She died and left the bakery to me. I left 'Nessa in charge, I wish I could call her."
"Your mum died?" This came from the Doctor, who looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. "And you own a bakery?"
"I told you about the bakery," I said, taking a bite of sandwich. "I made you banana nut muffins and you asked where I got the recipe and I told you about how I basically grew up in that bakery, lived above it most of my life…" I trailed off at his blank expression, then scowled. "I knew you weren't listening!"
Time went on. We managed to figure out the Master's plans and we got onto his giant floating airship, but the president got murdered and the Doctor got turned old. Martha escaped, but Jack and I got captured. I along with Martha's family was forced into what was basically slavery, catching glimpses of the aged Doctor and the chained Jack with no idea if Martha was still alive.
We tried to revolt. Every attempt to escape failed. The punishments got harsher and harsher. The Doctor was aged even more, until he looked like Kreacher and Golem's baby, not that I would ever say that out loud in front of him.
Finally, after a year of abuse and a feeling of hopelessness that ate away at my soul, Martha returned.
And I died.
I'd love to say I died in a way similar to Rose Tyler...but I didn't.
I was shot by the Master and bled out before anyone could do anything about it. As the life drained out of my eyes and the searing pain intensified, I think I mumbled out "I love you" to the Doctor, who was once again young. To be honest, I'm really not sure.
So, here I am. Some call this place Heaven. It's mostly just a lot of white and people milling about, pretending to still be alive and watching their loved ones still alive on monitors before admitting boredom and starting over as a new lifeform. I'm actually about to do that myself. Start over. I thought maybe, before I did, I ought to write down the memories that remain the clearest. I'm pretty sure I've been dead for a number of years now. The Doctor's regenerated twice since I traveled with him.
Is it wrong that I'm secretly hoping I'm reborn as another companion? I love him, I really truly do. I wish I had gotten the chance to find out if he loved me back. I like to think he did. He probably has moved on by now, anyway. He must have, he got married.
You know how all the Doctor's companions have nicknames? Rose Tyler, the Bad Wolf. Martha Jones, the Girl Who Walked the Earth. Donna Noble, the Most Important Woman in the Universe. I like to think of myself as 'The Girl Who Drew the Short Straw.' Sorta sums me up, doesn't it? I'm pretty sure my real nickname is 'The Star Among the Rest,' but I can't be sure.
Well, I think I'm done. It's time for me to let go and start over.
Doctor, if you're by some chance reading this, thank you for everything, and I love you.
Goodbye.